The Miami Dolphins announced their staff Friday afternoon
The Miami Dolphins officially announced their 2026 coaching staff under new coach Jeff Hafley on Friday.after Nathaniel Hackett left for the Arizona Cardinals after agreeing to take the position with Miami.
With Hamdan’s hire confirmed, the only unknown position coach slot was at tight end. We now know that spot will be filled by Ron Middleton, replacing Jon Embree. Middleton wasn’t coaching last season, but he’s got extensive NFL experience. His latest gig was as the New York Jets’ tight ends coach from 2021 to 2024. Prior to that, he was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ tight ends coach from 2013 to 2020, and he also served as an assistant special teams coach in his first three seasons . Middleton also had an eight-year playing career at, you guessed it, tight end. He spent time in Atlanta, Cleveland, Washington, Tampa Bay, San Diego, and Los Angeles during his playing career.We also got some news on returning coaches. Austin Clark was expected to return as the defensive line coach already, but we got some clarity on other names. Bobby Slowik, Joe Barry, Lemuel Jeanpierre, Jonathan Krause and DeShawn Shead will be the other five coaches that Hafley is keeping for 2026. Barry is entering his third season with the Dolphins, but is moving to run game coordinator/senior defensive assistant after spending his first two seasons working as the linebackers coach. Jeanpierre is moving from assistant offensive line coach to assistant tight ends coach. Former Dolphins OL coach Matt Applebaum will assume the assistant role. Krause is retaining his position as the team’s assistant wide receivers coach, and most of Shead’s title remains the same — assistant defensive backs coach — but its added “nickel” to end to indicate he’ll be working with slot defenders specifically.Miami’s first staff under Jeff Hafley has a few themes worth mentioning. The first is the emphasis on coaches with college experience. Most new position coaches have extensive college backgrounds or come directly from the college ranks. Hafley has brought up coaching as teaching a lot, so it makes sense to pull coaches from college since they tend to do a lot more “teaching” at that level. Another thing worth noting is that the play-callers all have prior experience in that role. Sean Duggan is a first-time defensive coordinator, but Hafley will call the plays on defense, something he’s got plenty of experience doing. Slowik was the Texans’ offensive coordinator for two seasons before landing in Miami last year, and Chris Tabor has run his side of the ball for multiple NFL teams in his career.Dante currently serves as the deputy editor of Dolphins on SI, where he’s been contributing since 2022. He began his career covering the NFL Draft for Blue Chip Scouting and spent four years covering the Temple University Football team. For the past three years, Dante served as the Deputy Editor for The 33rd Team, working with former players, coaches, and general managers, while building a team of NFL writers.Dolphins vs. Steelers Best Anytime Touchdown Scorer Picks for Monday Night Football in NFL Week 15
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